KateThe Dream
by Starlit007day
Summary: Part 4 Of A Series Called Kate. When Kate's health declines even further, Ax must face the possibility of losing the person most precious to him.
1. Chapter 1

_Kate #4: The Dream_

_Dedicated to the makers of Angelfire_

Chapter One

_Kate_

Thursday morning. Isolation.

I sat in my completely sterile room and stared out the window at the hallway. Not that there was anything to see, but the only thing on TV was stupid soap operas and Jerry Springer, who I detest far more than any other human being on this planet. So, staring out the window was a pretty interesting activity comparatively..

Watching the clock was, too. I'd arranged with Aximili and the others to call me at eleven from Rachel's speaker phone.

Oh, yeah, by the way, my name is Kate. Gotta throw that in, don't I?

And you're probably wondering why I'm in a sterile room. No, I'm not insane – not "lock you up" insane, anyway. The reason is that I will be receiving a bone marrow transplant in a few days. Bone marrow is this stuff in your bones (duh) that makes your blood cells. But, my bone marrow made a typo and I got leukemia, and now I need new bone marrow from my father (who's a pretty close match to me genetically). But in order to prevent my immune system from thinking the new bone marrow is some sort of infection, my doctors have to give me a bunch of pills to knock out my immune system. But, of course, that leaves me vulnerable to viruses and stuff so they put me in this spic-n-span room for a few weeks until they think the transplant's taken. Unfortunately, none of my friends can come visit me while I'm in isolation – just my family and the doctors and nurses. Yippee.

So now you know why I was so bored and why, when the phone did finally ring, I grabbed it before it'd even finished the first ring.

"Hello?"

"Hello, this is AT&T. We would like to offer you our new low rates –"

"Hi, Marco."

"Hi, Kate."

"Am I on the speaker phone?"

"Not yet. Hold on." There was a pause and a clicking sound, and then I could hear my friends moving around and sort of echo-y static background noise. "Now you're on."

"Hey, guys!"

"Hi, Kate!" I heard them chorus.

"How're you doing?" Cassie asked.

"I'm _bored_," I replied with a laugh. "I've been staring at the phone for four hours! But other than that I guess I'm fine."

"You don't have anything else to do?" Jake asked.

"Well, there's TV, but nothing's on that I wouldn't rather walk barefoot on broken glass than watch, and there's homework that I guess I have to do at some point, and, oh! Hey, I almost forgot the highlight of my morning. The nurse came in to give me my pills. You should see these things. They're like horse pills."

"Gee, we're gonna have to really work to top that," Rachel commented dryly.

I laughed. "So what's up?"

"Nothing. I'd don't know if you've gotten a look outside, but it's pouring," Tobias said.

"It is? It wasn't raining at six-thirty this morning when they ousted me out of bed to move."

"Six-thirty?" Jake repeated.

"Yep. Fun, huh? Anyway, is Aximili there?"

"Yeah. _Aximili_," Marco said mockingly, "is here. But I think he's waiting to talk to you . . . alo – one."

"Cute. Very cute, Marco. Hi, Aximili."

"Hello, Katherine," he replied.

We talked for awhile about what the others were doing during the rest of their spring break – not the beach, because the weather refused to cooperate, and hopefully not the you-know-whos, 'cause who wants to screw up their vacation _that_ way. Cassie told me about the litter of kittens someone had dumped outside their barn, and Jake and Marco told me about the basketball tournament they were playing in. Rachel, who said she was spending most of her time watching her little sisters because her mom had to work, jumped in every once in a while, mostly to give Marco a bad time about his basketball skills – or lack thereof

"Well," Marco said, and, I swear I could hear the smirk in his voice, "Ax is starting to pace. I think we should leave the two lovebirds alone."

"Shut up, Marco," Rachel said with an exasperated sigh. "Ax, just pick up the receiver and it'll take Kate off the speaker phone."

"Thank you, Rachel," Aximili said. I heard the others leave the kitchen.

"Hi, Aximili. How –" I was interrupted by a large crash in the background and Rachel yelling, "Marco! Get away from that door, you idiot! And put the glass down. That never works!"

"What are we going to do with them?" I asked, laughing

"What do you mean?"

"Never mind. It's just – who ever thought _we'd_ be the normal ones?"

"I don't know . . ." he answered, sounding a little confused. Sometimes Aximili doesn't understand humor.

"Are you okay? You sound a little weird."

"I am physically fine. However, I have already found myself missing you greatly."

"I miss you, too. But it's not forever. Just a few weeks."

"Yes, I know."

I felt funny talking to him over the phone. Before, Aximili and I had talked for hours on everything, but now I couldn't see him. It didn't help that I thought Marco was probably eavesdropping in the other room. So we didn't talk for very long.

"I love you," he said as we were about to hang up.

"I love you, too. 'Bye." I placed the phone back on its cradle and sighed.


	2. Chapter 2

_Kate #4: The Dream_

_Dedicated to the makers of Angelfire_

Chapter Two

_Kate_

My days in isolation quickly settled into a mind-numbingly dull routine. Get up at eight, eat the disgusting runny eggs the hospital put in front of me, take my medicine, stare at the phone until my friends called, and do my homework.

Bunches and bunches of fun.

I was in isolation for a week and a half before Dr. Lowe pronounced me fit for the transplant. Actually, what she said was, "You're ready to go." I knew that was a euphemism for, "Your immune system's gone and you're totally defenseless," but what she said sounded so much better. I didn't even want to think about the other thing. I was already having enough nightmares.

Anyhow, about two days after that, my dad had his surgery. My grandmother flew in to be with me so my mom could sit with my dad after he got out. Dr. Lowe said he'd be sore, but not too bad.

They hooked the plastic bag containing my dad's bone marrow up and attached the IV to the catheter in my arm. I watched it drip down the clear tube as Grandma did a crossword puzzle. I suddenly shivered as I realized that my entire life was banking on a plastic bag.

"Chinese dynasty," my grandmother said, interrupting my somewhat depressing chain of thought. "Four letters, second letter is an "I"."

"Ming," I replied. "We just finished them in history class."

"Thank you." She marked it down and closed the book, setting it on the table next to my bed. "So, your mother told me a young man has been visiting you quite frequently." Aximili had met my mom twice, very briefly – she thought she was a little strange, but sweet. So far, we'd managed to avoid my father, which is how I wanted it. Daddy's Little Girl and whatnot.

"Grandma," I whined. My grandmother is really cool as grandmothers go – no blue hair or old lady perfume – but I really didn't want to discuss my boyfriend with her, alien or not.

"What, you don't want to tell your grandmother about your friends?" she asked, sounding offended.

"No that's not it –" I said.

"Is he handsome?"

"Grandma, c'mon – "

"Nice?"

"Please –"

"Is he an idiot?"

"No –"

"So tell me about him. I'm sixty-eight years old, I live in a retirement community. All I ever get to hear about is hip replacements and pace maker operations. I need to live vicariously through someone!"

"Not me," I insisted, shaking my head.

"You know," she said slowly, giving me a meaningful look. "I don't think your father knows you have a boyfriend."

"Grandma! That's blackmail!"

"Yes, it is, and I have naked baby pictures to boot, so quit "grandma-ing" me and start filling me in."

"There's nothing to fill you in on," I told her, exasperated_. Why can't my grandmother play bridge and act old like everyone else's?_ I wondered. But no. My grandmother had to actually have a life and want to hear about mine.

"Fine," I finally gave in. "He's cute, sweet, and very, very intelligent." All very, very true. I just happened to leave out the fact that he was a cute, sweet, intelligent alien.

"Does he go to your school?"

"No." Also true.

"How do you know him then?"

"I met him through my friends." If she kept on like this I might be able to get away without lying.

Then she ruined it. "What's his name?"

_Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill,_ I thought. "Philip Richardson," I answered, quickly making up a last name.

"Ah, Philip. Good, solid, normal name." I almost laughed. Oh, yes, Aximili was nothing if not normal.

Then, right out of the blue, "What religion is he?"

"Does it really matter?" I replied, not really wanting to answer. Religion was a touchy subject between my parents and my grandmother, and it would not please her that her granddaughter was dating someone who did not believe in God.

"No, but I'd like to know."

"He isn't any," I said reluctantly.

"So he doesn't believe in organized religion? Well, that's fine. He's allowed to make his own decisions about that. As long as he believes in God."

"Well . . ."

"Well what? He believes in God, doesn't he?"

"Grandma, what does it matter? He's wonderful to me."

She shook her head and started to say something but changed her mind, deciding to make a disapproving noise instead. "Fine, I won't say a word. Whatever makes you happy."

"Thank you." I watched the bone marrow drip down the IV some more. I swallowed_. One plastic bag_, I thought.


End file.
